| Michael Monroe | |
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 Michael Monroe performing with Hanoi Rocks in England, 4th March, 2008
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Matti Fagerholm |
| Also known as | Flashing Psychedelic Kid |
| Born | June 17, 1962 , Helsinki, Finland |
| Genres | Glam punk, Hard rock, Glam metal, Punk rock |
| Occupations | Musician, vocalist, songwriter |
| Instruments | vocals, keyboards, piano, guitar, saxophone, harmonica, harp, drums, percussion |
| Years active | 1979–present |
| Labels | Johanna Records, Mercury Records, Liquor and Poker Music |
| Associated acts | Hanoi Rocks, Demolition 23, Guns N' Roses, Jerusalem Slim |
| Website | Official website |
Matti Fagerholm (born on June 17, 1962 in Helsinki) is best known by his stage name, Michael Monroe. Monroe is a Finnish rock musician, and multi-instrumentalist who rose to fame as the vocalist for the glam punk band Hanoi Rocks, and has served as the frontman for all-star side projects, such as Demolition 23. and Jerusalem Slim (with Steve Stevens).
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Michael Monroe was born Matti "Makke" Fagerholm on June 17th 1962. His father Pentti Fagerholm was a very well-kown Finnish radio personality and reporter. Monroe has said in the Hanoi Rocks autobiography "All Those Wasted Years", that one of his first times he was affected by rock n' roll was when he saw Black Sabbath's 1970, Paris performance on TV. Some other favorite bands of Monroe's at the time included: Alice Cooper, The New York Dolls, Led Zeppelin, Creedence Clearwater Revival and Little Richard. Monroe met guitarist Andy McCoy (then known as Antti Hulkko) for the first time in 1977, in a basement of a church, where one of McCoy's first band's Briard was rehearsing.
Main article: Hanoi Rocks
Hanoi Rocks was a band that Monroe and his friend, guitarist Andy McCoy had thought of, but because McCoy was in the finnish punk band Pelle Miljoona Oy, so he told Monroe to start the band without him. From the very first Hanoi line-up only one member (besides Monroe) lasted, rhythm guitarist Nasty Suicide, who would stay in the band till 1985. Andy McCoy left Pelle Miljoona Oy and joined Hanoi Rocks in 1980. McCoy also brought bassist Sam Yaffa with him from Pelle Miljoona Oy to Hanoi Rocks. The band later recruited drummer Gyp Casino to the band.
Band released their first album in 1981 titled Bangkok Shocks, Saigon Shakes, Hanoi Rocks, with most of the songs written by McCoy. The album was produced by Andy McCoy and Michael Monroe, who were known as "The Muddy Twins". In 1982 Hanoi Rocks moved to London and released their second studio album Oriental Beat, which the band has later dismissed the album as a failure, stating that the album was mixed badly by their producer Pete Woolcroft.
After the albums release, the band fired drummer Gyp Casino and hired drummer, and Hanoi Rocks fan, Nicholas Dingley, better known as Razzle. This line-up, consisting of Michael Monroe, Andy McCoy, Nasty Suicide, Sam Yaffa and Razzle, has often been cited as the classic and definitive Hanoi Rocks line-up. The band has said that the Razzle revitalised the band. Later that year the band released Self Destruction Blues, which had Razzle on the cover, but he didn't play on the album, because it was actually a compilation of old singles. The tour for the album took the band to Asia for the first time.
The next year, 1983, the band released Back to Mystery City. The album was quite popular in the UK and Japan. The Japanese release of "Back to Mystery City" only featured Michael Monroe on the cover. In 1984, the band and got together with legendary producer Bob Ezrin, and started work on Two Steps from the Move, the bands biggest hit to date. The original title of the album was "Silver Missiles and Nightingales", but was changed before release. The album has been cited as one of the best glam rock, and Monroe has said that he "is very proud of "Two Steps from the Move". While on their first tour in the US, Monroe broke his ankle, and some dates had to be pushed back. During this time, Razzle died in Los Angeles in a car crash with his friend Vince Neil, from Mötley Crüe, driving. After the Razzle's tragic death, Sam Yaffa left the band due to personal differences with McCoy. The Band tried-out new members, but things didn't work-out so the band disbanded in 1985.
In 2002 McCoy and Monroe started working together again and decided to reform Hanoi Rocks with two new members on guitar and bass, with Michael Monroe's solo career drummer, Lacu. They released Twelve Shots on the Rocks that same year. In 2005 they released Another Hostile Takeover, with new members Andy Christell on bass and Conny Bloom on guitar (both formerly of the Electric Boys). In 2007 the band released the album Street Poetry. In 2008 Andy McCoy and Michael Monroe stated that they had taken the band as far as they could and so they decided to end the band. Hanoi Rocks played 8 sold out farewell gigs in 6 days at the Tavastia Club, in Helsinki. The band's original guitarist Nasty Suicide appeared as a special guest on 3 of the last gigs.
Monroe has recorded duets with both Axl Rose and Slash of Guns N' Roses and Velvet Revolver fame. The song "Dead, Jail Or Rock'n'Roll" from Monroe's 1989 solo album Not Fakin' It received attention and its music video, with an appearance by Rose, found plenty of airtime on MTV. With Slash, Monroe recorded a cover of Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride" which was featured in the motion picture Coneheads.
Monroe has also performed on two Guns N' Roses albums: Use Your Illusion and Spaghetti Incident: Monroe plays saxophone and harmonica on the track "Bad Obsession" (Use Your Illusion I) and provides vocals on the cover version of The Dead Boys song "Ain't It Fun" on the album "The Spaghetti Incident?".
In 2007 Monroe guested as a session musician on the White Flame single "Swimsuit Issue Centerfold", providing vocals as well as his signature harmonica stylings.
On the 25th of January 2010 Michael Monroe held a press conference in Los Angeles introducing his new band. The Michael Monroe band features bassist Sam Yaffa who has played with a variety of bands including with Monroe in Hanoi Rocks, the New York Dolls and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts. guitarist Ginger from The Wildhearts. Also on guitar is Todd Youth who has played with many hard rock ensembles including Danzig, Motorhead, Glen Campbell, Samhain and most recently Chelsea Smiles. Rounding out the band is drummer Jimmy Clark, whose resume includes providing rhythm for the likes of Deborah Harry (who would later introduce him to Michael Monroe), Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, Glen Burtnick, Rick Derringer, Wynonna, Blackhawk and The Van Zant Brothers. Jimmy also played in Michael's band Demolition 23 which also included Sam Yaffa. The band started touring on March 11th at San Francisco’s Paradise Lounge and will tour the US until the 21st of March. One of the upcoming Finnish tour dates will take place at the Helsinki Live 2010 festival. Michael Monroe is old friends with singer Axl Rose, who's band Guns N' Roses will be the headliner of the festival.
Monroe was good friends with singer Stiv Bators. He was also very good friends with one of his idols Johnny Thunders. Monroe met his first wife Jude Wilder in 1985 while she was working at CBS for Hanoi Rocks's 'Two Steps From The Move' project. After they married the couple moved to Los Angeles and then to New York. Later on the couple moved to Turku, a little city in Finland, where Monroe relocated after many years in the United States. Wilder died on June 19, 2001. Michael Monroe married his current wife, Johanna, on July 3, 2003.
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   | Official website - Michael Monroe - The Official Website |
| | IMDB Biography - Michael Monroe (II) - Biography |
| | Interview - Saviours Of Rock |
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